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The arena is owned and operated by Maple Leaf Sports & Entertainment Ltd. (MLSE), the same group that owns both the Leafs and Raptors, as well as their respective development teams, and is 665,000 square feet (61,800 square metres) in size. In 2008, the ACC was the fifth busiest arena in the world and the busiest in Canada.[13] Air Canada Centre is connected to Union Station and the underground pedestrian PATH system, providing access to public transportation (TTC'sUnion subway station and GO Transit). There are also 13,000 parking spaces.

Air Canada Centre has, from its initial design to completion, revolutionized many concepts included in new arenas and stadiums built since then. These features include luxury suites accessible on the ground floor, splitting the main scoreboard into several sections, rotating all sponsor signage in the bowl at once (to allow dominant messaging), and multiple restaurants in and out of the main arena bowl view.

On August 29, 2017, it was announced that the arena will be renamed the Scotiabank Arena on July 1, 2018, after Scotiabank secured naming rights in a 20-year, $800 million deal.[14]

History

Chronology sign

A Raptors game vs the Sacramento Kings with the previous logo and colours, as well as the old scoreboard.

Construction of Air Canada Centre was started by the Toronto Raptors, under its initial ownership group headed by Canadian businessman John Bitove, who played in the SkyDome.[15] Groundbreaking took place in March 1997. While construction was in progress, the Raptors and their partially completed arena were purchased by MLSE, which was contemplating building their own arena for the Maple Leafs to replace the aging Maple Leaf Gardens.[15] MLSE subsequently ordered major modifications to the original design, which was basketball-specific, to make the arena become more suitable for hockey. Originally planned to cost $217 million, MLSE increased the budget to $265 million after taking control.[6] The Raptors were twice fined a million dollars (which were donated to their charitable foundation) by the NBA for missing deadlines to begin construction of their new arena.[16]

The arena site was once occupied by Canada Post's Toronto Postal Delivery Building (designed by Charles B. Dolphin), which was briefly handed over to Department of National Defence for war storage purposes upon completion in 1941, but returned to Canada Post in 1946. In the early 1990s, real estate developers Bramalea Ltd and Trizec arranged to purchase the building from Canada Post with equal ownership, and redevelop the site into a 2,500,000-square-foot (230,000 m2) office, retail and residential space. The financial and development details of the purchase had various conditions around the property being rezoned by the city, and remediation of soil contamination by Canada Post before any development.[17] Due to financial difficulties, the building ownership was returned to Canada Post in 1993. The Toronto Raptors purchased the building from Canada Post the next year.[18]

A 15-storey tower on Bay Street stands at 55 metres (180 ft) and provides connections in the atrium to Union Station, Bay Street, and York Street (via Bremner Boulevard). Air Canada Centre is connected to the underground PATH network.

Air Canada purchased naming rights to the arena for USD $30 million over 20 years since opening.[19]

Developments since opening

In 2003, MLSE completed a $5 million upgrade of the arena, including a new LED signage system.[20] During the summer of 2015, a $10 million upgrade of the arena was carried out, which included the installation of a new scoreboard four times as large as the previous one. The old scoreboard was later installed at Ricoh Coliseum.[21]

Maple Leaf Square

In late 2005, Maple Leaf Sports and Entertainment announced that they would be renovating the western side of the Air Canada Centre during the 2008 off-season to connect it with the Maple Leaf Square development. Maple Leaf Square is jointly owned by MLSE, Cadillac Fairview and Lantera Developments. The $500 million development includes two restaurants, Hotel Le Germain at Maple Leaf Square boutique hotel, extensive retail shopping, including a 9,000-square-foot (840 m2) Leafs, Marlies, Raptors, and Toronto FC store, two 54-storey condominiums, a Longo's supermarket, and a public square. It opened in 2010. The two-year, $48 million renovation of the ACC added a new atrium that includes a High-Definition broadcast studio for Leafs Nation Network (formerly Leafs TV), NBA TV Canada and GolTV Canada. The outside wall of the atrium features a 30-by-50-foot (9.1 by 15.2 m) video screen overlooking the plaza, which often broadcasts games taking place inside the arena. During NHL and NBA playoff runs, the square attracts thousands of Leafs and Raptors fans, respectively, sometimes broadcasting away playoff matches featuring the Leafs and/or the Raptors as well.[22]

A section of the square is designated Ford Fan Zone at Maple Leaf Square, with naming rights given to the Ford Motor Company of Canada. During Raptors playoff runs, the square has acquired the nickname "Jurassic Park" after the 1993 film adaptation.

Scotiabank Arena

On August 29, 2017, it was announced that the Air Canada Centre will be renamed Scotiabank Arena, on July 1, 2018. The landmark 20-year sponsorship agreement between Maple Leaf Sports & Entertainment and Scotiabank is worth about CAD $800 million. This is believed to be the highest-priced annual building and team sponsorship in North American sports history.[23]

The Toronto Rock also moved to Air Canada Centre from Maple Leaf Gardens for the 2001 NLL season. The Rock's first game was a 17-7 win over the Ottawa Rebel on December 21, 2000.

On October 3, 2003, Air Canada Centre had a power outage during the third quarter of a Raptors pre-season game against the Athens-based club Panathinaikos. The game was called final, because the power was not restored in time and Toronto already had a 30-point lead.